Development, validation, and use of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for assessing protein intake in Papua New Guinean Highlanders

Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Morita, Ayako;Natsuhara, Kazumi;Tomitsuka, Eriko;Odani, Shingo;Baba, Jun;Tadokoro, Kiyoshi;Igai, Katsura;Greenhill, Andrew R.;Horwood, Paul F.;Soli, Kevin W.;Phuanukoonnon, Suparat;Siba, Peter M.;Umezaki, Masahiro
Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this article was to develop a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and evaluate its validity to estimate habitual protein intake, and investigate current dietary protein intakes of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Highlanders. Methods: A 32-item FFQ was developed and tested among 135 healthy male and female volunteers. The FFQ-estimated daily total and animal protein intakes were compared with biomarkers and 3-day Weighed Food Records (WFR) by correlation analyses, Bland–Altman plot analyses and joint classification analyses. Results: The FFQ-estimated total protein intake significantly correlated with urinary nitrogen in the first morning void after adjusting urinary creatinine concentration (r = 0.28, P < 0.01) and the FFQ-estimated animal protein intake significantly correlated with the hair δ15N (Spearman's r = 0.34, P < 0.001). The limits of agreement were ±2.39 Z-score residuals for total protein intake and ±2.19 Z-score for animal protein intake, and intra-individual differences increased as protein intake increased. The classification into the same and adjacent quartiles was 66.0% for total protein intake and 73.6% for animal protein intake. Median daily total and animal protein intake estimates from the FFQ and the 3-day WFR showed a good agreement with differences of 0.2 and 4.9 g, respectively. None of the studied communities in the PNG Highlands met the biologically required protein intake; although the community closer to an urban center showed higher protein intake than the more remote communities. Conclusions: The newly developed 32-item FFQ for PNG Highlanders is applicable for evaluation of protein intake at the individual level.

Journal

American Journal of Human Biology

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Volume

27

ISBN/ISSN

1042-0533

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Issue

3

Pages Count

9

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Publisher

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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DOI

10.1002/ajhb.22647